Who would have thought that the slave actually hummed a sound, as if he had expected it to be so. "I'll report to Concubine, there are only four servants, you can take them or not, I'm leaving."

  "Halt." A gentle voice echoed within the warm pavilion, and the slave also obeyed and stopped, sneering as if he could hear the concubine's compromise the next second. "I wonder what else Your Ladyship has to instruct, do you want this person or not?"

  Chu Lian sat down and said only two words, "Kneel down."

  That slave had just thought to raise his head and retort, but met a pair of cold and terrifying eyes. For some reason, his legs went soft and he knelt down with a thud. His mouth didn't stop, "The slave is telling the truth, what does the imperial concubine want to do with him?"

  Chu Lian glanced at Si Wei, hooked her lips and said, "This mouth really needs to be taught a lesson, slap it."

  Si Wei gritted her teeth and walked over, raising her hand to slap him, but the servant suddenly became fierce and tried to push her. She barely dodged out of the way, only to see the servant already standing up, calling for his subordinates to leave. Si Wei couldn't help but curse, "You this insolent slave, how dare you be so rude!"

  Chu Lian smiled coldly, "Although I am not the official wife of the Wang Ye's manor, making a small servant like you disappear is still within my capabilities."

  After finishing speaking, the slave did not leave either. He stood for a while and then reluctantly came back, knelt down on the spot, and said that Concubine Chu was telling the truth. Although he was a distant relative of Li's steward, with Li's steward backing him up, if something happened, Li's steward would not really help himself out. It was his own fault for believing Li's steward's words, and now he knew that this was a troublesome master.

  Si Wei showed no mercy this time, the sound of her palm slapping echoed in the warm pavilion. Her right hand was sore and she switched to her left, only stopping after a long while when Chu Lian said "stop". She lazily said, "I'm afraid it'll take half a month for him to be able to speak again. Alright, take him away."

  Chu Lianruo watched as Si Wei slapped the insolent slave, and for a moment, she mistook the slave's face for that of the current Emperor Xun Rong. She clenched her fists, almost wanting to take matters into her own hands. Her desire for revenge against them had not subsided one bit. By the time she came back to herself, the slave's mouth was already battered beyond recognition.

  ***

  That night, in the imperial palace, the servants of Qinhua Palace were also having a hard time. In the middle of the night, Yu Guifei had a nightmare and woke up calling for people to come and attend to her. She then ordered her personal maid to go invite the Emperor, who was resting at Lironghua's place, to come over.

  Only to see Yu Guifei, with her raven hair scattered, sitting propped up on the wide and luxurious bed, tightly hugging the quilt, cold sweat drenching her body, her disheveled hair clinging wetly to her forehead, loudly shouting, "You group of lowly maids, why haven't you gone to summon Third Young Master for me yet!"

  At the time when Yu Guifei and the Emperor were being intimate, her four personal palace maids would sometimes hear Yu Guifei call out to the Emperor as "Third Brother", but losing control like this was a first, they exchanged glances with each other, all of them kneeling down, not daring to speak again.

  Jade Imperial Concubine's most trusted palace maid, Zhong Mengquan, hastily walked in, frowning and hesitantly opening her mouth, "Aiyo, Your Ladyship, it's the middle of the night and His Majesty has already retired. You're being so reckless by ordering me to summon him, aren't you asking for trouble?"

  Yu Guifei suppressed her anger, her voice trembling slightly, "It's all because of that cheap woman, I dreamed of her, she's dead, how can she still be haunting me!"

  Upon hearing this, Zhong Mengquan signaled with his eyes for the four palace maids to withdraw, walked over and hung up the curtain, personally pouring a cup of tea for Yu Guifei. "Your Majesty, the deposed empress is already dead. In this imperial palace, you are the most noble. Even if she were still alive, she wouldn't be able to bully you."